The metalcore train left the station about four or five years ago, and these guys may have missed it. If these guys had released Heartbound in 2005, they would have been a chance to (momentarily) dominate the world; such is the quality of what they do. These Aussie boys do the melodic metalcore thing about as well as anyone on the planet right now; it’s just that they might have to be content with joining the overpopulated ranks of a sub-genre long past its commercial peak.
All that aside, Heartbound is absolutely killer. It does exactly what good metalcore should do, and it sounds amazing doing it. When it’s heavy, it’s really very heavy. When it’s melodic, its pop hooks soar to the heavens and stay in your ears for long moments afterwards. Lead vocalist Marcel Gadacz handles the howls and the cleans with equal aplomb. The production and musicianship are world class, and touches of electronica are appropriately subtle and add atmospherics and dynamics, never overdone, which is exactly as it should be.
These guys have crafted almost the perfect metalcore album. Hopefully they can still carve out a solid slice of the pie for themselves in international metalcore. If a melodic Parkway Drive sounds like your thing, avail yourself of this album, now, and support Aussie music.
Best track: Lifestream
If You Like These, You’ll Dig This : Parkway Drive, Killswitch Engage, Norma Jean
In A Word: Accomplished
